The production of photovoltaic panels, in particular panels called “flat plate” involving thin layers, calls for plating methods of compounds from columns 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16 of the periodic table, such as for example those based on Cu, Zn, Sn, In, Ga, Al, Se and S and also compounds based on selenides, tellurides or sulfides. These platings are conventionally done by two types of technologies: processes referred to as “batch” associated with rigid substrates, or those referred to as “roll-to-roll”, incorporating flexible substrates unrolled over an entire production line.
From an industrial perspective, the roll-to-roll process has the advantage of reducing the mass of panels and increasing the production tempo compared to the batch processes, thereby reducing the production costs. Nevertheless, the transition from batch methods to roll-to-roll methods requires performance validation steps.
At the present time, roll-to-roll technologies are not as well-managed as batch technologies, which deprives devices involving flexible substrates from precise, economical and reliable production methods.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,610 proposes an electrolytic bath in which is immersed a flexible substrate moving past a nearby anode. Document DE 19751021 also proposes an electrolytic device using a roll-to-roll method, operating by scrolling a flexible substrate in a bath containing an anode.
The techniques proposed in these documents however use tanks whose geometry does not optimize the homogenization of the solution present in the electrolytic bath. Additionally, these tanks could benefit from an optimization aiming to reduce the quantity of solution necessary for electroplating.
More advantageous geometries are known in the batch methods. In particular, with a cylindrical geometry, like the one described in document U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,884, hydrodynamic control can be used to advantage by rotating a rigid cylindrical substrate around its axis in an electrochemical bath contained in a tank which itself is cylindrical.
There is therefore a need to optimize the electroplating technologies used for handling the flexible substrates, so as to be able to benefit from both some advantages provided by known technologies and used in the batch methods while also benefiting from production cost savings and speed of roll-to-roll technologies.